Connecting Publics in a Fractured Public Sphere
Chapter 4 presents an empirical case on the problematic public disconnect in contemporary democracy where multiple publics are fractured in the public sphere. The chapter explores how a group of everyday citizens created connections between diverse publics in the public sphere. The analysis centres on the creative and playful connective activities of Knitting Nannas Against Gas (KNAG), an Australian-based social protest group opposed to coal seam gas development. Drawing on interviews conducted with the members of these groups across four different locations in New South Wales, the chapter reveals a rich variety of ways in which these groups seek to create connections with two opposing publics, as well as with latent publics. The chapter shows the significance of aesthetic-affective forms of communication, including non-verbal communication in crafting novel connections in a fractured public sphere, and discusses the ways these connections can help enhance the epistemic quality and reflexivity of the public sphere. The chapter concludes by discussing how the case of KNAG enriches current ideas on connectivity in deliberative systems.